This painting depicts a waterfall in the Auvergne, although it was painted in Italy. It embodies the vigorous naturalist aesthetic that distinguishes Michallon’s achievement from much of the tepid Neoclassicism of the early nineteenth century. Until the bulk of Michallon’s work was brought to light in 1930, the artist’s role as one of the creators of the new school of landscape painting was obscured by the renown of his pupil Camille Corot. Historians were compelled to change their view when the source of Corot's vision became apparent in the work of the young artist who had first taught him how to paint.

Jill Hoffer Dienst et al. Didier Aaron: Catalogue. Paris, 1994–95, unpaginated, no. 19, ill. (color), call it "Rivère, cascade et chûte d'eau"; suggest that it was executed soon after Michallon's arrival in Italy; interpret the label on the back of the painting, which reads "Vte de L'Espine no. 236," as reflecting the lot number in the posthumous Michallon sale in 1822; state that it was purchased at the sale by the comte de L'Espine.

Gary Tinterow in "Recent Acquisitions, A Selection: 1994–1995." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 53 (Fall 1995), p. 39, ill. (color), notes that it is one of the few finished works that the artist signed and dated; suggests that Michallon saw this waterfall in Auvergne on his way to Italy in 1817.

Patrick Noon in Patrick Noon. Crossing the Channel: British and French Painting in the Age of Romanticism. Exh. cat., Tate Britain. London, 2003, p. 224, no. 134, ill. (color), dates it to shortly after the artist's arrival in Rome; relates it to his tree studies and competition essays of 1817.